Arena, The Sand Cerberus Picture

Originally, this had started out as a practice design for a humanoid version of Cerberus, the three headed hellhound who guarded the gates of the Underworld, but it soon came out as being an entirely new character of mine. He is suppose to be based off of the Cerberus of Greek mythology and he shares some simiilarities to the One Tailed Shukaku, Gaara's one-tailed beast, from Naruto in terms of abilities and mannerisms.

I also wanted to do something different with outfits other than how I usually draw outfits for OCs. I gave him the design of a Greek warrior.

History: Arena had been born into a litter of Cerberus pups as the runt of the litter. When he was born, his arms and legs were frail, which caused him a major disadvantage amongst his siblings, who were strong legged and healthy. Each day would be an hour of pain in his frail body whenever he moved. It wasn't even close to being even remotely conveinient when his two left and right heads would bite at him for control of the body. However, they would also suffer the same fate, but to a lesser degree.

Eventually, the time would come when the owner of the Cerberus pups would have to give them away. The owner started a sale in the bazaar of the Ghost Kingdom, selling each dog for a fair share of money.

When most of the pups had already been sold, only Arena remained. No one else wanted him because of his sickly form. However, a young Xavier and Pariah were in the bazaar, browsing the place when Xavier took notice to the Cerberus pups that were being sold, but saw that only one was left.

"Cerberus pups, are you sure you want to get this one, Xavier? He looks to be in poor health and the left and right heads are no different." Pariah asked his friend, looking at Arena with a feeling of pity.

"I'm sure. Besides," Xavier said as he handed the gold coins to the merchant. "this one is good, I can tell."

Arena had been taken home to Pariah's Keep, finally content with the fact that he now had a home to call his own. The young cerberus had been given a proper home, as well as a decent meal. The hellhound was rather malnourished. He had been kept alive with the help of his mother's milk, but his sickly physical form had weakened him. For now though, he would enjoy his life with his two new owners.

When Arena was a year older, he was now a healthy and content hellhound. However, he would soon learn that all ghosts would develop their abilities when they had gotten older. He soon discovered this when he was playing near the River Styx and attempted to get a drink of water. However, just as the water touched his tongue, it had started to crumble, just like sand. Panic struck him and he had fallen into the River Styx, struggling to escape as the rest of his body started to crumble away. Pariah and Xavier both heard the shrill cries of Arena and went to rescue him. They had quickly rescued him and returned him back to the castle.

Worry had strucken both of them as they placed the crumbling remains of the hellhound on dry land. The hound struggled, but his whole body structure had become sand. The three heads then emitted a ear piercing how as a spiral of sand wrapped around the beast. Soon, a large sandstorm took hold and Arena grew to an immense height and was now able to walk on two legs instead of four. His physical form had become more defined, but had cracks appearing along his body, as well as black spikes sticking out of each visible area of his body.

"What has happened?" both Xavier and Pariah asked.

"My body ability and my powers have finally awakened," the middle head spoke as grains of sand melted from his face. "Xavier and Pariah, I am cerberus Arena and I am forever in your debt."

Arena was in debt to them both for saving his life. He guarded Pariah's keep, keeping the ghost prince and his body guard in and from keeping intruders out.

The bite was actually far worse than his bark. For when intruders came near the keep, Arena would drain the bodily fluids of those unfortunate enough to arrive uninvited. He would bathe in the blood of those he had killed, for it did not harm him in the manner that water had caused.

Soon, when Pariah and Xavier were adults, the Dark Betrayal, an event in which Metrion betrayed the council, had occured. Arena was willing to accompany them as a guard, determined to protect them at all costs.

They reluctantly agreed and Arena was soon fitted with golden armor worn by the Greek warriors, as well as a relic known as the Flail of Tartarus, a golden flail crafted by the Cyclopses.

Arena had proven to be a great warrior, brutally ripping apart those who stood in his path with the sand he controlled. His most favored thing he liked to do was flay the flesh from Sin Soldiers and consume it. He was literally a party animal, for during each gathering, he would challenge others to drinking contests. At first, Arena had lost, badly. With time however, he began to show improvement at holding in his liquor. Soon, he began winning the challenges that were given to him.

As soon as the battle was coming to an end, Metrion had invaded the Ghost Kingdom with his thirteen strongest generals, Der Verdorben (Translated to The Tainted in German). Arena had been told to search for survivors at one part of the kingdom and it was there that he found Furcht (Dread), one of Metrion's generals, about to slaughter a villager.

Arena fought against Furcht, using his own sand manipulating powers against the immortal. Arena had gained the upper hand, easily defeating Furcht. However, the Verdorben tossed a basin of water at him, thus weakening his form, knowing that those composed of sand were vulnerable to water.

"You may have all of the bite that Cerberus himself once had, but it appears water is what cripples your form." Furcht hissed.

"Damn you..." Arena said, cursing.

"Know this hellhound, someday, two of your closest friends will soon become engulfed in the darkness that Emperor Apocalsos had given them. I suggest you take these words wisely." He said before escaping in a flock of vultures.

"Wait! What do you mean?" Arena asked. However, Furcht was already gone.

Little did he know that this ominous prediction would soon come true.

After Zinthos had banished his brother Metrion by sealing him away, things appeared to be in order for some time. Unfortunately, Pariah and Xavier were both consumed by the dark energies of the seven emperors. Arena tried to reason with his former allies, but they had attacked him. Quickly, he escaped the Ghost Dimension and entered into the human world. He disguised himself as a mortal and lived amongst the humans in Greece, protecting the city from invading armies. At the same time, he kept up his human guise until he was forced to transform into his cerberus form to repel a barabarian army from invading the cities. He succeeded in slaughtering most of the armies, but when he had completed his task, the entire city feared him.

Furious with this act, the emperor of Greece exiled him from the country. After this, he continued to roam the earth, existing in the forms of sandstorms or strange moving sand mounds that flowed through the wind.

He still continued his drinking habits, but this time, he tried to rid his mind of the painful memories, but how matter how many women he slept with in different mortal disguises or how much wine he had consumed, nothing could rid him of the memory of what had happened in the Ghost Dimension when both Pariah and Xavier betrayed the Ghost Council.

"Why have you done this...?" He asked. "WHY!?" The sands appeared from around him. He now realized that only loneliness was his true companion. For now, he would stay in this world, alone.

Now in modern times, a man named Ramone traveled to the deserts of Greece on an archelogical study. When he was there, he found the Flail of Tartarus lying within the sands. By picking up the relic, Arena's snake tail appeared from the ground, grabbing him. Soon, the large cerberus had completely emerged from the ground. Angered beyond belief, he attempted to kill the man for awakening him from his slumber. However, he immediately recognized the man from his facial features. Arena then realized that this mortal was a descendent of one of the women he had slept with.

"I will not lose you...the same way I had lost my allies to the darkness..." Arena told him, glaring at Ramone through his golden eyes.

"What do you mean?" Ramon asked, with a hint of a spanish accent in his tone.

"We will soon become one!" Arena said as his form broke apart into sand. Then, the large cloud of sand entered through the mouth of Ramone, filling him with the sand that had been his physical form. Soon, the whole world had gone black as Arena said these last few words.

"Now, we are one."

Ramone awoke hours later in the medical tent, only to find out that large black cracks appeared on his flesh, looking like veins. Immediately, he heard the voice of Arena in his mind.

"Do not sleep, do not rest, only allow the sands to be your guide...." Arena said darkly.

"As you wish." He answered.

Now, Arena and Ramone, Arena's new host, sought to rid the land of those who dared to challenge the power of the sand cerberus.

Powers and abilities:

Arena's abilities did not develop until he was a year older. When they did, Arena possessed the basic powers of a mythical beast. Superhuman Strength and durability. He can also manipulate sand to create different attacks. However, his earth elemental power is only limited to sand.

His heads also serve a more reliable purpose. The left head uses its snake like tongue to drain the oppoent of the water flowing through their body, making it more safer for Arena to kill him or her without being injured by the effects of water. The right head then drains away the blood of the person, leaving them a rotted, dried corpse. It then raises up its right head to the sky, vomiting up the blood for Arena to bathe in. The middle head devours the remains, allowing the body to the flow of his sand manipulation to move more easily. The snake head tail is used to crush his enemies in half under the weight of its large jaw.

His Flail of Tartarus possesses a small portion of the sand element for each golden dog head. The chains can extend to high lengths, as well as fire a blast of sand from each of its mouths to blind the opponent. They also serve as grappling hooks.

Sand Claw: Creates a large claw out of sand to crush his enemies under its weight. If more ectosoul is used, the claw will weigh more. This makes it more difficult for Arena to use if it weighs too much.

Hound Eye: This ability allows Arena to create an eye out of sand to cause the opponent to dissolve into sand if they look into it. The eye is connected to the optic nerve of both Ramone and Arena. It can also be used to see though the opponent's physical structure, allowing them to identify the opponent's blood type, health, and other things.

Fluid Absorption: Absorbs the bodily fluids of his victims with his three heads. See the above description.

Bound of the desert: Slams both his hands in the ground, causing the sand to devour his opponents. The sand even crushes them if they are sucked in.

Sandstorm of Rot: Creates a deadly sandstorm that rips away the flesh of his enemies piece by piece until there is nothing left.

Forms:

Arena has no specific forms, but when his partner, Ramone is angered to extreme extents or driven by violence, Arena allows Ramone to assume the form of a human sized version of himself, which enhances their abilities greatly.

Weaknesses:

Arena is immortal outside of any part of the Ghost Dimension/Ghost Zone, unless if he is thrown into a large vault of water or any areas surrounded by water. If left away from dry land for two long after being consumed by water, he will perish. Even a small drop of water would be like acid to his sand like body.

Strangely, he is able to consume liquor without being harmed by its liquid effects. However, he becomes drunk very easily, as well as easily impaired when in that state of mind. Ice paralyzes his form, but as long as it does not convert into water, then he is able to break free or escape effortlessly.

The only way to calm Arena when he is angered is by playing a soft melody on a flute or harp, which will render him to sleep.

He also cannot eat honeycakes, for they also have the same effect as music did on him.

Facts:

1. He is based off of Cerberus of Greek mythology, who was one of the many children of Typhon and Enchidna and was trained by the god of the dead, Hades, to guard the gates of Tartarus/the underworld by keeping the dead in and the living out. Also, Cerberus was lured to sleep by Orpheus's musical skills and had once been lured to sleep by Psyche when he was fed drugged honeycakes.

2. He plays somewhat of the role of the One Tailed Shukaku from Naruto.

3. He is a drunkard and has a nasty habit of gambling, similar to that of Arcadia Nocturne. Even when sober, he still maintains some of his drunken nature when he was intoxicated.

4. He was originally going to be named Cortez, but was changed at the last minute.

5. His Hound Eye ability is based off of Gaara's Third Eye jutsu.

6. Unlike Vanth, Samael, and Arcadia, Arena cannot create different forms. He can still be summoned, however and merged with his master.

7. Arena's loyalities do not extend to anyone else, making him a stubborn pup.